Many will walk in and out of your life, but only a true friend will leave paw prints on your heart.
~Anonymous

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Three Little Kittens

Three little kittens they lost their mittens, and they began to cry, "Oh mother dear, we sadly fear that we have lost our mittens." "What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens! Then you shall have no pie

Now, I'd like you to meet the other half of the pack, the three little kittens,Franklin Thomas, Harley D. and H. Davidson. All three cats are male and were taken in as kittens who needed a good stable home.

Frankie was adopted, along with his brother Jo-Jo, (not pictured) by KJ. Frankie and Jo-Jo were destined for the pound because they didn't have any other place to go, and so KJ, being the animal lover that she is, made room in her heart and her home for both of them.

Harley D. was adopted by me. Back then, I had always told my friends that I would have a new Harley one day, but at the time it wasn't possible for me to to get a Harley I could ride. So, I found a loop-hole and still managed to live up to my word! This tiny kitten in need of a home came to me in 1996 and I named him "Harley D." He is a "softail" model (HA!) and he became the first of many more Harleys in the house... err garage... umm well, you get the picture.

Yes, cats and dogs living in harmony all under one roof... ett -hmm...most of the time.

As you can see, Franklin Thomas, ("Frankie Cat" on the left) and Harley D. (right) look very much alike. There are slight differences though. Frankie Cat has a slimmer tail and his hair lies back, more contoured to his body, and his head and face are smaller than Harley D.'s. Harley D. has a bushy tail and his fur is super soft and feather-like at the ends. Harley also sports two distinctive whiskers (one of each side) that turned white as he got older. Those whiskers really stand out and resemble a Fu Manchu mustache, it's adorably cute... err... I mean, handsomeand tough looking (sorry Harley).

See - they're practically TWINS!!

(Except I couldn't get Harley to wear the little hat).

Harley D. and Frankie Cat are both very close in age, believing that Harley is only a few months older than Frankie. Both cats are 15 years old but neither of them show physical signs of their age (except maybe that mustache of Harley's). Its important to note that these two cats don't exactly get along. Frankie and Harley can not be in the same room with one another (so much for that harmony I mentioned earlier, huh?) so in order to keep the cats from stressing out over where the other one is, at night, we give Harley his very own room so he can sleep in peace. When these two cats do get in to it - its very hard to tell who is who during the chaos of flying fur, hissing and snarling. We are fortunate enough to have a "warning bell" if a fight is about to break out thought...

Casey Dog is ALWAYS on the lookout for a good cat fight. She relentlessly sounds off at the first sign of any kitty-kommotion that may be afoot.

Casey is constantly on guard protecting her pack, err... even if it means having to sacrifice play and sleep, or both, apparently. Way to stay on top of things Casey Dog :-)

The three little kittens they found their mittens, And they began to cry, "Oh mother dear, see here, see here For we have found our mittens." "Put on your mittens, you silly kittens And you shall have some pie" "Meeow, meeow, meeow, Now let us have some pie."

Ya know, I never could understand WHY the mother cat would allow her kittens to eat pie with their mittens - that's just all sorts of crazy wrong.

But I digress...

Meet "H. Davidson".

He's also nicknamed "Stewie Cat" because he reminds me of the character, Stewie Griffin of Family Guy.

When Davidson runs up and down the stairs like a mad kitty - which is often and very funny to witness - his paws thud just like Stewie's feet when he runs. Oh yeah, and there's that whole "Victory shall be mine" and world dominance attitude of his, too. Even though Davidson is only 4 1/2 years old, he is the most dominate and fearless of the three cats. He is very daring and loves to tease Riley Pup into play.

Riley Pup 3 months old with H. Davidson Stewie Cat

I found Davidson when he was about three or four weeks old. He was believed to have been accidentally left behind by his mother cat who was possibly moving her new litter from harm. He was found in a horse's field crying near a fence. I could NOT resist helping this little tiny baby who needed a mama. He was smaller than the palm of my hand and slept in my shoe when I first brought him home. I had to feed him from an eye dropper for about two weeks, then gradually mix softer more solid foods with vet bought kitten's milk to help ween him into a more stable diet. At first he couldn't drink out of a saucer dish so I had to find something small enough to where he could get to the food and water without bathing him in it. The only thing I had was an old glass ash tray smaller than my hand (see pic on right). As expected, Harley was extremely jealous of the new arrival but warmed up to him after about two weeks so I felt comfortable feeding Davidson out in the open with Harley present. (Naturally Harley had to have a sampling of Davidson's food to preserve peace at first so I bought him canned (yuck) cat food to make him feel like he wasn't being left out).

Harley D and H. Davidson 2007

They became buddies, and even though now Davidson sometimes jumps on Harley's back to make him play (whether he wants to or not, hence the name Stewie Cat), they are inseparable. Davidson is the ONLY cat that Harley has EVER allowed near him without a fight!

Harley D. and H. Davidson 2010

The three little kittens put on their mittens And soon ate up the pie, "Oh mother dear, we greatly fear That we have soiled our mittens." "What! soiled you mittens, you naughty kittens!" Then they began to cry, "Meeow, meeow, meeow" Then they began to sigh.

What, are you kidding me?? The mama cat first TOLD the kittens that they couldn't have any pie because they lost their mittens, then the kittens found their mittens and Mama Cat told them they could now have their pie. NOW the "Mommy Dearest" cat has the audacity to complain because the kittens "soiled their mittens" while eating the pie - WTF?!? It doesn't say ANYTHING about Mama Cat providing forks for the kittens to eat their pie with so HOW does she expect them to eat the frickin' pie WITHOUT soiling their mittens... AND FURTHERMORE...Let us assume for the sake of an argument that forks were provided to these mitten-clad kittens, how does Mama Cat expect the kittens to USE these forks -they don't have any opposable thumbs!

But let's go a step further...

What if they DID have opposable thumbs:

They couldn't use the forks cuz Mommy Dearest Cat insists they wear mittens on their paws! Those poor, poor things!

Personally, if I were one of those kittens, I'd seek emancipation as early as possible. Mommy Dearest Cat Cat is obviously impossible to please and deliberately confuses her babies into a constant state of fear and panic. She's a psycho Meow-Mama!!

But I digress, again.

Back to the Pack...

And there you have it, the Paws a-Plenty Pack!

With Casey's rules, Davidson's domination, Harley and Frankie's squabbles, Riley-pup's puppy shenanigans and Bailey, well, Bailey learning her place in all of this, we sure do have our paws, err, I mean, hands just as full as our hearts.

The three little kittens they washed their mittens And hung them out to dry, "Oh mother dear, do you not hear That we have washed our mittens." "What! washed your mittens, you are good kittens. But I smell a rat close by, "Meeow, meeow, meeow" we smell a rat close by...

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to take the Paw Poll on the right side-bar before you leave!

May your heart be trampled on with many paws of love!!

Giving credit where credit is due:

The Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens (AKA The Three Little Kittens) The first record we have of the rhyme is when it was printed at the end of New England author Eliza Follen's (1787-1860) New Nursery Songs for All Good Children, published in 1853. As a result she has been credited as the author, but the book claims the verses are "traditional".[1]In1858R. M. Ballantynewrote an elaboration of the poem under the title The Three Little Kittens, published as part of the Good Little Pig's Library, volume 1.[2]Pictures by SIG Photography and by KJ Stewie Griffin character and likeness is intellectual property of Family Guy/ Fox Network